November 24, 2005 - Jose Padilla was arrested on May 9, 2002 in the arrival lounge at Chicago’s O’Hare airport as he went to collect his luggage. He was not charged with any crime. The FBI agents had a warrant to detain him as a material witness whose testimony was needed before a Federal Grand Jury sitting in New York City. He was immediately transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. He was brought before a Federal Magistrate, advised of the reason for his detention and a lawyer was appointed for him. A hearing to determine his status as a material witness was scheduled for June 11 th, 2002. The Department of Justice turned him over to the Department of Defense on the order of the President based upon the President’s declaration that Padilla was an “enemy combatant” a classification of prisoner not previously known in US law.

“Yesterday, at the direction of the president, the Department of Justice transferred control of Jose Padilla, who is a U.S. citizen, to the Department of Defense. As of today, he will be held at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Based on information available to our government, Padilla met with senior al Qaeda members to discuss plans for exploding a radioactive device, a radioactive dispersal device, or what is commonly called a "dirty bomb," in the United States. He researched nuclear weapons and received training in wiring explosives while in Pakistan, and he was instructed to return to the United States to conduct reconnaissance operations for al Qaeda.” Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz – June 10, 2002

As the Deputy Secretary spoke Padilla was being detained at a high security navy brig in South Carolina and denied access to his court appointed lawyer. Yesterday, November 22, 2005 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced that a Federal Grand Jury sitting in Miami had indicted Padilla on charges that he conspired to kill, maim and kidnap persons not in the United States. He was not indicted on anything connected with a dirty bomb or anything else in the United States itself. After three years imprisonment in the custody of the US Department of Defense he has been returned to the custody of the civilian authorities. Now he has rights which the court in Miami is bound to respect.

His most important right may be his 6 th Amendment Right to a speedy and public trial in the district in which the crime is alleged to have been committed. The Speedy Trial Act, Title 20 Section 208 of the U.S. Code codifies the law with respect to that important right. Padilla was arrested more than three years before the indictment was returned and held without any charge being brought. The Speedy Trail Act requires that an arrested person be indicted or released without charge within 30 days of his arrest. One sanction for a violation is dismissal of the charge. If the court were to decide that the three year detention were unlawful after the first 30 days then any statements that Padilla may have made while being denied counsel would probably be excluded from any trial.